Live At Ginza Sony Park (July 3, 2020)
by 青葉市子 [Ichiko Aoba]

From Mercury 07/29/2021 22:19 | #272049

(This is a folk album, a live album, its an ICHIKO AOBA performance. It's amazing, obviously.)

Ichiko Aoba is special. Every melody she sings and every string and chord she plays I am almost guaranteed to watch and listen to with deep appreciation and a tear in my eye. Not sure exactly why, but she has that effect on my state of mind. She seems to be that wise and optimistic and soothing someone that can talk you off whatever cliff you may be standing on. And she can do this with just a few elements, usually an acoustic guitar, a keyboard, and the most beautiful, ethereal voice of this generation.

Her live albums have always been like some kind of balm of the soul. This is her most recently released live album of several and the thing about this live record and her previous ones is that they are just as angelic and captivating as her studio records (her studio records are also amazing, the point i'm making here is the live records are events as well.). To listen to this record is to simply exist and feel light and get your head on straight for 50 minutes. The set flows with zero jarring from song to song and improvisational piece to the next with no seams. It's stunning.

The way I am talking about my enjoyment, nay, almost reverence for this musician may make this almost sound like an extremely biased and almost cult-like view. I can understand that if you aren't someone who is familiar with or a fan of Aoba's and you read this you may come away thinking "this mutherfocker is cuckoo". So let me try to, for the remainder of this comment, take the generalized spiritualizing out of the equation and just talk a little (very little) about the music.

The first track and last are improvisational acoustic/piano pieces with some patented Ichiko vocalising. Despite being on the surface quite aimless, they are for me quite engaging and the variety of little timber changes and playfulness with the melodies is fascinating. After the opening improv the album is composed of songs, some (or all for all I know, I don't know each individual track on her studio albums as I haven't heard all of them... will rectify) of which are favorites off her studio releases. They are distinct enough to be distinguishable one from the other, but they all fit within this quite melodious, soft as soft can be atmosphere of friendly and warm conversation. The guitar work is understated but tuneful and fascinating. The star of the show and of all music of all time (i know i know i said i'd keep the hyperbole to a minimum) is her vocals. She has a way of sounding like a creature from another world, like an elf or angel, each note perfect and floating and soothing. It never fails to blow me away how in command of these songs and melodies she is. She sounds EXACTLY as good in her live performance here as she does in last year's stand out studio album "Windswept Adan".

Anyway, this album came out in a time when I can't imagine Aoba doing any wrong musically. It's almost unfair to compare this to any other artist or album due to how invested and onboard I am with her music and how she makes me feel and how big of a fan I have become over the last year. Like, in 2013 or 2014 at the height of my love for The Tallest Man On Earth it was the same, if he had released any live album or studio album almost without fail I would be over in my room weeping with joy and just feeling like the world was one. So, take this hype and effusive love I express and maybe in your mind reduce it by 20-50% and that will maybe be more along the lines of how much you'll love this live folk album. Or, if you are also a lover of Ichiko Aoba's brand of contemporary folk/almost ambient softness, you will have the same feelings I do for this document. Whatever the case may be, even if all you ever listen to is hip hop or metal, I think you should stop for 51 minutes and give this album a listen. It may put you under its spell as well and be a changing moment in your life.